The US Army began development of the Nike Ajax after World War II. Western Electric was prime contractor for the complex overall system of radars, computers, guidance systems, launchers, and missiles, with Douglas the subcontractor for the missile. First unguided launches began in 1946. The missile had a solid rocket motor booster, with the second stage powered by a Bell liquid-propellant rocket engine. Four nose fins controlled the missile in flight. The first successful intercept of a B-17 target drone took place in November 1951. The first of 200 operational Nike sites equipped with 16,000 missiles was activated in 1954.

The complex system used an acquisition radar to detect potential targets at long range. Once a single target was designated, it was handed off to a target tracking radar. The Nike was then fired and a separate missile tracking radar tracked it flight. A ground-based computer used data from both radars to calculate the intercept trajectory, which was translated into appropriate steering commands and radioed to the missile in flight. The three warheads in the missile were detonated on ground command once the computer determined the missile and target tracks had converged. Peak deployment came in 1958. The Nike Hercules, which solved many of the limitations of the first-generation Nike Ajax, had completely replaced the missile by 1963. The Nike Ajax continued in service with US allies for several years thereafter. Surplus Nike booster rockets became a staple of many sounding rocket configurations for several decades thereafter.

The Nike Ajax was the world's first operational surface-to-air guided missile system. Its origins lay in the immediate post-war time, when the U.S. Army realized that guided missiles were the only way to provide air-defense against future fast high-flying bombers. Western Electric became prime contractor for the XSAM-G-7Nike missile system, and Douglas as primary subcontractor was responsible for the missile airframe.

The first unguided Nike missiles were fired in 1946, but problems with the original multi-rocket booster (8 solid-fuel rockets wrapped around the missile tail) soon led to delays in the program. In 1948 it was decided to replace this booster pack with a single rocket booster, attached to the back of the missile. The main propulsion of the missile was a Bell liquid-fueled rocket motor, and the flight path was controlled by the four small fins around the nose. In November 1951 the first successful interception of a QB-17 target drone succeeded. The first production Nike (which had been redesignated SAM-A-7 in 1951) flew in 1952, and the first operational Nike site was activated in 1954. By this time, the missile had been designated by the Army as Guided Missile, Anti-Aircraft M1. The name had changed to Nike I, to distinguish it from the Nike B (later MIM-14 Nike Hercules) and Nike II (later LIM-49 Nike Zeus). On 15 November 1956, the name was finally changed to Nike Ajax.

The Nike Ajax missile used a command guidance system. An acquisition radar called LOPAR (Low-Power Acquisition Radar) picked up potential targets at long range, and the information on hostile targets was then transferred to the TTR (Target Tracking Radar). An adjacent MTR (Missile Tracking Radar) tracked the flight path of the Nike Ajax missile. Using tracking data of the TTR and MTR, a computer calculated the interception trajectory, and sent appropriate course correction commands to the missile. The three high-explosive fragmentation warheads of the missile (in nose, center, and aft section) were detonated by ground command, when the paths of target and missile met.

One of the major disadvantages of the Nike Ajax system was that the guidance system could handle only one target at a time. Additionally, there was originally no data link between different Nike Ajax sites, which could lead to several sites engaging the same target. The latter problem was eventually solved by the introduction of the Martin AN-FSG-1 Missile Master command-and-control system, with automatic data communication and processing. Other problematic features of the Nike Ajax system were the liquid-fuel rocket motor with its highly toxic propellants, and the large size of a complete site with all components, which made Nike Ajax to all intents and purposes a fixed-site air defense system.

By 1958, nearly 200 Nike Ajax sites had been activated in the USA. However, the far more advanced MIM-14 Nike Hercules soon replaced the Nike Ajax, and by late 1963 the last Nike Ajax on U.S. soil had been retired. In 1963, the Nike Ajax had received the new designation MIM-3A. Despite the use of an MIM (Mobile Intercept Missile) designator, the mobility of the Nike Ajax system was more theoretical than actually feasible in a combat situation.

The MIM-3A continued to serve with U.S. overseas and friendly forces for many more years. In total, more than 16000 missiles were built.

Specifications

Note: Data given by several sources show slight variations. Figures given below may therefore be inaccurate!

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Associated Stages

HJ Nike Nike-3 Solid propellant rocket stage. Loaded/empty mass 599/256 kg. Thrust 195.60 kN. Vacuum specific impulse 195 seconds. The average sea level thrust of the Nike rocket motor was 190.3 kN. The interstage adapter was bolted to the front of the Nike and consisted of a conical shaped adapter which slip-fit into the second stage nozzle, thus providing for drag separation at Nike burnout. Each Nike fin was 0.45 square meters in area. Normally, the fins were canted to provide a two revolutions per second spin rate at Nike burnout. More...